Read Blood and Steel (The Cor Chronicles Volume I) Page 21
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Rael enjoyed talking to Cor over meals; it gave him a chance to lecture the boy without worrying about too many questions. Certainly, he appreciated Cor’s inquisitive nature, but every answer he gave Cor inevitably led to another question. The boy ate well usually, and that gave Rael time to speak about things relatively uninterrupted.
“You must learn to feel your blood more strongly,” Rael said. “Even now, I feel myself pulled to places, and for the most part I do not know why. But eventually, I will have to answer those calls. That is how I knew you had returned to the West. You called to my blood for years, and when I found you the first time, it was like blazing fire in my veins. That feeling weakened as you sailed further away, and strengthened immensely when you returned.
“You have only just learned of your power, so the feeling is weak, and you may not even be aware of it. But as you become more focused, stronger, you will feel it more acutely. And perhaps, as you become more aware of your strengths, they will even change. It is likely, that you will one day give those up,” Rael pointed with his spoon at Cor’s sword and fetish. “You will feel drawn to something else, another sword perhaps or a fetish which is more powerful, more meant for you.
“The shield I had you using was useless for you, and on some level you knew that. I began to suspect that you were a fetish wielder, but I had to get you closer to them for you to feel it in your blood. When you selected the sword and the fetish, you felt it. Have you felt anything like that any other time?”
Cor looked down into his stew. Rael unerringly made a stew every second or third meal, and the meat in this one was somewhat unknown. He spooned the stew over itself several times, expecting Rael to become angry with what he would say next.
“I feel it now,” he answered, still looking at his dinner.
“Do you know from where?” Rael asked, surprise, not anger showing on his face.
“Further down the hall, there’s a doorway and some stairs that go down,” he explained, guilt welling into his voice. “I found it right after you brought me here. Sometimes when you are gone, I just go stare at the steps.”
“You desire to descend those stairs,” Rael stated.
“Yes,” Cor paused, “and no. They scare me.”
“As they should. That stair is one of the ways into the catacombs of Sanctum. I do not know how safe the steps themselves are, but I doubt a precarious climb is the only thing to fear in those depths.”